


What we love, the worlds we live in

by FreakCityPrincess



Series: Different Versions [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminal/Underworld, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cassian & Kay as ex-mercenaries, Childhood Friends, F/M, Illegal activity, Immoral things for moral reasons, Jyn & Bodhi as heist-running siblings, RebelCaptain May the Fourth Exchange, Refugees, Rehabilitation, Undercover Missions, issues with authority
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-04
Packaged: 2019-04-19 04:00:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14228778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreakCityPrincess/pseuds/FreakCityPrincess
Summary: Cassian grew up in a society that did what it could for the displaced and despondent. Three years ago he cut off all ties with his community when he found out exactly what the reward from his sins were paying for.Jyn is a fighter affiliated with Saw Gerrera's partisans; a girl he'd spent the Autumns of his childhood playing (and falling in love) with until the day she'd had to leave.Jyn finds a golden opportunity to avenge her mother's death at the same time Cassian is talked into one last job for the Alliance. When their paths cross, neither believes in disclosing the truth.





	What we love, the worlds we live in

**Author's Note:**

  * For [guineapiggie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/guineapiggie/gifts).



> Happy May the Fourth!
> 
>  
> 
> **Prompt; Rebelcaptain undercover on the same case but they don't know it.**
> 
>  
> 
> I expanded on the prompt a little and built this absurd world haha.
> 
> I initially couldn't decide if I wanted them to be secret service agents or people who operated outside of the law, so I put a poll on my Instagram to decide and this was the winner! I really enjoyed integrating the tropes you'll find in this one.
> 
> I hope you enjoy! Rating is for language and suggestive themes, but nothing explicit.

Spending the most recent years traversing back-alleys and handling miscellaneous jobs until he could afford two decent meals a day (and enough of distance from his previous line of work) had taught Cassian to be weary of bustling urban hubs. London was one such place, where everyone was a stranger and familiar faces only popped up in equally familiar places. In the streets of a city as big, as branching, you were likelier to meet a mugger, or a fugitive of justice, or a racist whose own roots weren't entirely endemic than a friend made in a ticket queue or the soft-spoken pre-teen you saw getting bullied the other day. No consistency, all preoccupation and chaos. These things Cassian had almost grown used to.

But he couldn't escape the ghosts that followed him everywhere, no matter what part of the world he chose to dig out a safe haven for himself. Most of the time the ghosts were only pieces of a guarded, distrusting imagination born the day he'd up and left home. Sometimes, though, sometimes he could _swear_ he was being followed, his every move was being watched; his old mentor keeping a wary eye on him, or looking for a window to take him down.

It was six o'clock in the evening and the sky was beginning to take that annoying tint of colour that said it might rain, it might just drizzle, or it might be brutally cold with strong winds only. He was walking fast to keep the cold from his bones. And to keep the would-be assassin/watchful eye as far behind as possible.

He swerved in through the crowds heading toward the subway station, and took several unnecessary turns rather than the direct path to his building. Took the stairs down to the underground station. Took the lift on the other side up. When he felt certain enough to catch his breath, he glanced over a shoulder and decided he was satisfied. The ghost was shaken off.

Still, he mingled in with more crowd and slipped into an unsuspecting yellow taxi to take the rest of the route home. He'd made sure to be well covered when he'd got in. Stopped the driver in front of another building. Went it, exited through the parking lot, and then, finally, over half an hour later than the usual time, found himself jogging up the stairs to his (politely putting it) utilitarian rental flat in the strict, cheap tenant building he'd got into eighteen months ago.

He unlocked his door unhurriedly. If the ghost was still on his tail, watching somehow, he meant to show he was not intimidated, he was calm because he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Of course, he hadn't played this game in a long, long time, and he had no illusions about the rust accumulated on those skill-sets. 

The gangmember following him probably had the same guess.

Cassian found the gun tucked behind his bookshelf and headed over to the small pantry space to dig through the fridge for something quick, single-handed. He'd bought himself some time. He'd spent a good portion of his bi-monthly salary reinforcing the door. He could afford getting some food into his system.

" _Shit,_ " he cursed lightly. Only microwaveables. Damn it all.

_No more time. You'll be a dead man before you register who they sent._

Cassian startled at the sound of a rap on the door. Quick, but also loud, like the would-be assassin wasn't afraid of alerting his immediate neighbour to his presence.

His shoulders untensed a little. Not a hitman, then. Just here to talk. He still held his gun behind his thigh as he made for the door, elbow jutted out for quick access.

A loud, dramatic sigh from the other side. "Gettin' tired of standing around, Andor. Are you a terrible host or what?"

Cassian almost laughed, drawing his gun from around his hip as he unlatched and opened the door a crack.

"Tell Draven I'm not interested."

Melshi rolled his eyes. "Open up, give me a couch, and then we'll talk."

"We're not going to talk," said Cassian, opening the door for him nonetheless. He noted quickly that there was no one in the passage, and pointed the gun while the open door blocked it from the cameras.

Melshi cocked an eyebrow. "Ooh, Andor with the big-ass heart is going to shoot me right in front of his cosy nook, where the surveillance will catch it? I don't think so."

Cassian had always secretly enjoyed breaching high-security buildings with this man. "Or I'm going to give you a hug, jab a pressure point and drag you into my flat, where I'll shoot you for no one to see." The hint of a smile dropped from his face. "Go back, Melshi."

Melshi, who had about three inches and five pounds on Cassian, barged into the flat instead, kicking the door closed behind him. Cassian raised his gun, finger poised on the trigger. The other man gave him a weary look of disappointment.

"The hell happened to your silencer?"

  


"Can't say it's been boring without you," Melshi poured himself another shot, already a little tipsy on his fourth. "I mean, activity gets more intense everyday. You should see the truckloads of black money that come in every month, Cass, and how happy those kids look when they're given their share. It's so much bigger than back then. None of the girls are hung up on you anymore, though. Your fine ass is mostly urban legend now."

Cassian picked up the bottle and placed it a little beyond his old friend's reach. "How many?"

Melshi peered into the empty glass as if he expected there to be more. "Hm?"

"How many families?"

His guest had to think for a while.

"A lot," was the answer he settled on. "A lot of them. Sixty, seventy. We can reach out to more, though."

"We can?" asked Cassian dryly, trying not to think about how the idea of their illegitimate money reaching sixty displaced families warmed his heart too much. Oh, he'd felt warmed half his life, before the happy illusion had broken. He would not return to that life again. He wouldn't _believe_ it a second time.

Melshi shrugged, oblivious to the turmoil evident in the way he sat, lips pressed in a thin line, fingers curling in his lap. "We could...if we had more resources. More men and women, more deserving targets and more money. You know how the system works, Cass. You know what a difference one man is capable of making."

The last bit wasn't delivered like an accusation, but it hit him in the gut like one, something that whispered _we could be doing so much more, we aren't because you abandoned the cause, you have a lot to answer for_.

"Don't ask me to come back, Melshi." His resolve was stronger than that. 

Melshi's face was suddenly serious, drunk slackness all gone. He slammed the shotglass back on the table and leaned forward, dark gaze piercing. 

"You can stand to let people suffer?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice. "People with families, children without- like you once were?"

Cassian closed his eyes. "Please don't do this."

"You're the only one who comes close to being good enough for this target," Melshi sat up straighter. "Believe me, we've sent people. We've been sending people ever since the _new_ influx of refugees, which I'm sure you've been hearing about on the news from your comfortable living room."

Cassian grit his teeth. "I was done with the Alliance years ago, Melshi. I'm done with getting blood on my hands for your pipe-dream cause and the French villas being built from the back end of my sins."

Melshi slumped in his seat, all too quickly, as if conceding to a point he knew was coming. Ran calloused, machinery-proof hands through his hair. "It was the leadership, Cass-"

"And has the leadership changed?" Cassian almost felt his lips twist in a snarl. "Fifty families when we could be financing a hundred. You know as well as I do that the...the noble cause is just a cover up for those fucking politicians to get rid of their opposition and live off the black money we make for them."

"At least there are the fifty families," said Melshi, quietly, and the real regret in his voice made Cassian's fire die down a little. 

"I'm in it for them," continued the Alliance operative, taking in a breath. "And the people we _can_ reach out to, even if there are a hundred others we can't help."

Cassian shook his head. A big part of himself wanted to accept Melshi's reasoning, it really did, but he was stubborn for the most part and he knew why he'd made the decision he'd made. 

"Nothing makes the blood on my hands worthwhile."

It was a mantra he repeated to himself everyday, in his head and out loud, with every waking breath and step of the new life he was adjusting to. 

Melshi pursed his lips. "Shouldn't you decide that after you know whose blood it is?"

_Don't ask, don't ask. Don't you dare ask._

Melshi produced a card from his shirt pocket, sliding it across the table. 

_Don't look. Chirrut would be disappointed, after everything he gave you. This is your life now._

"You might wanna consider this one job."

Against his every judgement, Cassian glared sharply at his onetime partner before snatching the piece of paper off the table. 

"Orson Krennic," Melshi said out loud, just as the blood in Cassian's veins went cold. 

He didn't know, did he? The...intricacies of this connection? The personal vendetta tied to this name? 

No. Good as Draven's agents were at what they did, Cassian had always been the best, and no one had ever disentangled _his_ web of secrets. The Alliance thought the name would draw him in simply because Cassian wouldn't let the known atrocities of the man go unpunished. This was partly true. 

There were even deeper, less widely known crimes that Cassian would have Krennic answer for.

It scared him, absolutely terrified him, how sure he was of that. 

Was he going to return to the work he ran away from only to pursue one lead? The Alliance could give up on this target if none of their agents were working out. He could turn Melshi away and maybe move to a new address with Chirrut's help.

But even as Melshi poured himself another shot and the long minutes dragged on with air too heavy to breathe, he remembered _her_ eyes, green with unusual flecks of colour, wide and hurt, tears threatening her lids as she stood at the open door of his shack, babbling that the man who killed her mother had taken her father somewhere unknown. 

He didn't realize he'd ripped the card in half.

"Is Kay allowed to join?"

Melshi did a terrible job of hiding an approving grin as he set aside his sixth shotglass. The man could drink like hell. 

"Welcome back to the fold, Andor."

###### 

_Hotel California_ blared at full volume as the open-roofed Maserati zapped through the wide, empty highway framed by snow-capped mountains.

Bodhi yelped a little when Jyn let go of the steering wheel to throw her arms in the air like a windsock. The old car swerved, but her grip was on the wheel again and the words of the song were coming from her upturned lips. He clutched the spot over his shirt where his heart was beating erratically. Jyn glanced from the corner of an eye and winked. 

"You're going to get us killed!" he yelled, still not over the momentary shock, the force of the wind making his hair stick to his face and flutter too close to his mouth. "This is supposed to be a vacation!"

" _You can check out any time you like,_ " Jyn raised her voice and the volume on the stereo. " _But you can never leave!_ "

Bodhi scowled through the shivers still racking his body. Bloody hell, she was _enjoying_ this. 

"Gas station," he pointed at the big yellow box coming up ahead. "Gas station!"

Jyn stopped singing to their playlist and sighed, but in a fond way Bodhi knew was reserved for him only. She turned down the volume as she slowly reduced the pressure on the accelerator, and expertly took the illegitimate turn across the next lane to pull in at the unmanned station. 

Bodhi opened the door as soon as she turned off the engines, stumbling onto the cement floor on dizzy, dancing feet. 

"Wow," he panted, bent over his knees as he caught his breath. "I am never...I am never letting you drive my baby again."

Jyn slammed the door as she got off, an amused grin lighting her face. " _Your_ baby?"

"Yes, my baby girl," Bodhi stood taller, jutting his chin out for good measure. Or to make his head stop spinning, she figured. "Well, not _mine,_ nothing's mine, but nobody feels nauseous when I drive and your antics at the wheel are terrifying. I'm driving the next stretch and the one after that."

"Sure," Jyn agreed non-commitally, that playful light still dancing in her eyes as she slapped the filling machine to set its meter right. "Let's see how _she_ fares when you fall asleep on the wheel and crash us into painful, fiery death."

Bodhi groaned. "I was only nodding off because I was _tired!_ And because I ate a lot. You get sleepy when you're stuffed on three Whoppers."

Jyn raised an incriminating eyebrow at him. "Who told you to eat three Whoppers?"

" _You_ insinuated that we wouldn't be having the next two meals!"

"Why can't you listen to me when I'm actually being serious?" Jyn fixed the nozzle of the dispenser to their car, keeping her gaze trained on him expectantly.

Bodhi huffed, shoving his balled fists into his jacket. He was used to cold weather, but the next time they took a week off, he was going to make sure the destination was sunny and full of warmth and blooming flowers. It was not going to be a road trip, either. Jyn had a way of needling whatever she wanted out of him.

"Fine, you can drive the next stretch. But only that one!"

She grinned unashamedly, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "You're the best."

He snorted, but couldn't repress a smile all the same. "I know. Why don't you leave me with the car and go hack the snack machine?"

Jyn pulled back, twirling the keys around a finger. "Already on it," she promised, before marching toward the unattended yellow vending machine leaning against one of the pillars holding up the roof. 

He shook his head fondly after her, walking the short distance to a stack of newspapers compressed in a large donation box. Donation box, newspapers? This station had to have an owner who visited frequently, or at least a dedicated maintenence guy on normal days, even though it was located on the side of a highway in the middle of nowhere, Scotland. The padlock of the box fell apart as soon as he touched it, and he tentatively lifted the lid to extract the newspapers on top. 

As fun as this rare vacation opportunity was proving to be (they'd left London five days ago to drive across the border to Scotland in the Maserati, pulling to a stop at scenic places, trekking half-way around the Loch Ness and camping out at the foot of the Cairgnorms, spending money only on cheap food and gas), it had left them slightly out of touch with the outside world, which put Bodhi on edge more than he would admit out loud. This trip was for Jyn's sake; he'd only proposed the idea of taking a week off because she was losing herself in her work, in trivial cases for the Partisans' lost cause, and he couldn't stand to see her like that. Still, even a three day old newspaper was a relief to him. You had to leash yourself to reality even when you were drifting away from it.

He stood in one place and poured over the front page, greedily taking in even the most unsurprising items, like the latest allegation against the dictator here, the newest scandal of a celebrity there. Jyn's grunts of irritation at the sturdy vending machine receded to a background noise quickly. 

Then Bodhi flipped the page, and intook a sharp breath. 

**_BACK IN THE BIG PICTURE: Orson Krennic Talks What's Next For The Industry_**

"Hey, I got us some granola bars, but they feel kind of stale." Jyn emerged at his shoulder. "There are crackers but you might be allergic to the paste because it's some weird seafood mix-"

Bodhi swallowed as his eyes ran over the page- because the whole page was for this article, because there were pictures of smiling men in business suits and handshake deals- and became acutely aware of how still Jyn had suddenly gone. 

No, no, he couldn't do this. He shouldn't. Bodhi snapped the paper closed, tightly, folding it in two and lifting the lid of the box to promptly drop it back in. He turned to face her with an explanation- a bad one, a mumble of excuses- on the tip of his tongue, because she deserved to be happy, and free of worry, even if it was for this week only.

Jyn's face had taken on a deadly expression, and all the joy he'd seen over the past five days had drained out of it faster than a dirty sink. Shaking in quiet fury. 

"Jyn-" he started, pathetically, but he knew nothing he said at this point would make a damn bit of difference. 

She lifted the lid and snatched the paper from its crib, aggressively turned the page and looked at the pictures.

Of the man who'd taken everything from her. 

Smiling. Doing a new business deal. Talking about his old successes, and his next big ideas. 

"He's back," she said, and it startled him because none of the anger on her face reflected in her voice.

It was throughly disconcerting. He wished he'd never picked up the stupid paper, that they could just get back to their holiday, that Jyn got to smile easily again. 

But it wasn't going to happen, so why dream? Whatever her next step was, he would follow her until she stopped running. 

"I have an idea," Jyn met his eyes, carefully folding the accursed document. 

Bodhi chastised himself for thinking their peace would last. 

"Of course, Jyn."

###### 

_Jedha was far from a picturebook village town, and even further away from how you'd picture any neighbourhood on the face of a developed continent. There was no uniformity, no one standard. It was a hive of colour and culture and simple domestic life on one hand, and the hidden base of a guerilla military force on another, with an outer perimeter of bare land surrounded by barbed wire fences and camouflaged guards._

 _It was an average-sized town, a self-sufficient town, and an illegal town._

_Jedha was vibrant with the colours of several different cultures, so while it may have not belonged in a picture book, it certainly approached something stemming from a piece of fiction because such perfect balance existed nowhere else. They called it the Holy City. They called it sacred, and secret, effectively hidden from the rest of the world. It was a virtually nonexistent safe haven for people who belonged nowhere else, people who fled war zones and weren't granted citizenship or the means to live in the midst of a greater society._

_But Jedha wasn't exempt from the cold autumns of the West, and in this season the colours of mixed culture dimmed a little in the face of harsh wind and gloomy skies. People wore warm clothes over their ethnic dresses. It transformed into a somewhat comprehensible place._

_A misshapen lake that borrowed deep into the town's nether border turned too cold for swimming or bathing in autumn, so the drawn-out evening hours would find it lifeless and serene. With the exception of two._

_An Alliance-funded orphan would meet Saw Gerrera's niece at the empty rim of the lake in the bitterly cold evenings and they would pretend it wasn't so cold, talking and laughing and learning from one another._

_It was a strange friendship. She was supposed to be unreachable, or at least give that impression, up there with the Partisans who only loosely associated themselves with the Alliance and took jobs to their own liking. Yet she always found the time for him, a boy who wasn't so special- just another displaced orphan being taken under the Alliance's wing. She enjoyed his company. Her company meant the world to him._

_It had continued to mean a lot even after he'd started working for the people who raised him, even as he'd grown into the role of spy, liar and occasional assassin._

_He never told her that he was any one of these things. Jyn, despite her fighter's fists, was human and fierce but innocent. She would never approve of the thing he'd become._

_They'd spent seven autumns together by the time she had to leave Jedha._

_In six more autumns he left the Alliance, and never approached the Holy City again._

###### 

"This is a stupid idea," declared Kay Tuesso, disdainfully eyeing the monitor over Cassian's shoulder.

Cassian dragged and dropped another location pin, this time on the Noveau Broadway theatre. 

Kay pinched the bridge of his nose. "And it just got stupider."

"Krennic has an agenda here in London," muttered Cassian, mostly to himself. The white light of the screen mirrored on his glasses. "And we need to be one step ahead of him if we're going to uncover anything incriminating enough to take him down with. An old school track-and-trail. Only Intel, Kay."

"Only Intel," echoed his friend dryly, backtracking to sit heavily in the other office chair. "It's still Alliance business, and we made a choice to never go back, Cassian."

Cassian's grip on the mouse tightened, going white-knuckled before he let go, a crestfallen expression taking over.

"I know," he swiveled around to face him, regret written in the crease between his brows. "And we're not going back. Just-" He pulled the glasses off like they were offending him. "Just helping. Krennic...Krennic needs to be stopped."

"But we are," Kay's tone was flat. "Only gathering Intel."

"Anything that helps," murmured Cassian. "That's all."

The small office space fell into a tense, uncomfortable silence, the light from the monitor a singular, blaring source in the darkness.

Kay spoke before the silence could choke them both. 

"I remember you mentioning Krennic in passing. Some time ago, when we talked about leaving."

Cassian rubbed his temples, sighing deeply. "Yes. I did. And...And, you should know, Kay, this job is- this is personal."

Kay's ice-blue eyes were like beacons in the dark.

"This man has hurt you?"

Cassian wished the lights weren't all burnt out, wished they could afford more than this claustrophobic space in the basement of his building, separated by a thin partition from where the cars were parked.

"He has hurt...he's done enough."

"Cassian," said Kay, in a tone that was somehow both strict and understanding, coaxing a straight answer out of him. 

He could tell the truth. Kay had followed him this far, and he was going to help him now, he deserved the real story.

Still, Cassian found the words difficult, because these were memories he hadn't worked out whether he wanted to forget or treasure till the end of his days. 

"Do you remember- the girl I used to hang out with? When we were in Jedha?"

It was painful, actually talking about it. And he had to be very careful with his wording. Not say her name. Not say what they used to do, whenever they met up, because it wasn't _hanging out,_ wasn't as simple as that, and it felt ridiculous to even use that term to describe the bond they'd forged. 

Kay had gone still, but Cassian plunged ahead before he lost the nerve. 

"Krennic is responsible for her mother's death and he- took her father away from her. He destroyed things for her, Kay, and he can't....I can't let him get away with everything he's done."

Kay closed his eyes, sighing as if pained. 

"Cassian, it's about time you forgot."

Well. He did see this coming. 

Cassian swiveled back to face the screen and got back to his work immediately.

"It's not healthy," Kay went on. "You were in love with her once, yes, but that was a long time ago, and you were only a child then. You don't owe her anything, just like she doesn't owe-"

"I never said I was in love with her," Cassian didn't even look back, but his fingers had stilled on the keyboard. "But we got along, she was the only friend I had besides you, and whether I owe her or not Krennic needs to pay for the things he's done."

Kay shook his head, prepared to say something. 

"Are we clear, Kay?"

"You don't have to deny-"

"Are we clear?"

Kay slumped in his seat, and resigned himself to watching his friend finish and then print his map. 

"Yes, Cassian."

###### 

"I want to hear the plan again," said Bodhi. "Because from what I gathered, there seems to be no plan."

Jyn was still experimenting with the springy mattress of her bed in their new hotel room. Well, the bigger bed. There was a small one on the side that Bodhi had claimed when they'd got here. He liked smaller spaces.

Jyn shifted up on the bed, lifted the covers and dove under the heavy duvet, pressing her face into the cool material with contentment. "I'm going to get Baze a box of chocolates for the hospitality. Or a new axe. I didn't think he could afford to spare a room like _this_ for freeloaders."

"We're probably his favourite freeloaders," said Bodhi, sitting on the edge of his own bed. "I wonder how many places he owns? Said Chirrut manages residential properties and he looks after the hotels."

Jyn sat up, smiling wistfully. "Amazing to see them doing so well, isn't it?"

"Mm. I still wish they hadn't left so early, though." Bodhi pouted. And I asked you a question."

Jyn suddenly grew serious, and for a split second he wished he hadn't asked. 

"I don't know," she admitted. Still, there was steel in her eyes. "But we'll figure it out. Saw will help- I know he will. But until I can ask, until he _agrees,_ we'll just track Krennic and look for things we can use. Our inside man- you remember Saw sent him to tail Krennic before he disappeared? I contacted him, and he's slipping places that we need to be."

Bodhi was shaking his head hard and fast before she even finished. "Wait, you don't have the clearance for this? Do you have any idea how- how dangerous that is, doing something without Saw's approval?"

"I got approval," snapped Jyn. "Just not Saw's. He's not the only Partisan leader, is he?"

"Jyn." Bodhi swallowed. "I don't like this. I don't like this one bit."

"Nothing is going to go wrong," argued Jyn. "This is just a simple track-and-trail. We're not even getting involved. Edrio and Idryssa gave me the go-ahead to do exactly this."

"Jyn-"

"Krennic is going to go down some day," Jyn fixed him with a look. "And I want to be a part of it. That's all this is about."

No, it wasn't. Bodhi still remembered the day Galen had disappeared, how stricken and furious Jyn had looked at first, then how she'd broken down. This was as personal as a target got. She wouldn't play a small role in taking him down if she had anything to say about it, and knowing Jyn, who got her way regardless, she _wouldn't_ play a small role. 

"What do we know so far?"

Jyn's face lit up with a devilish grin he knew far too well for his own sake. "You're the best."

Bodhi sighed exasperatedly. "I know. What's the first step?"

Jyn pulled out her phone. "We go wherever Saw's spy can't go. So for now, all we have is a seven o'clock appointment at a fancy dining restaurant in West London."

Bodhi looked at the website she held up for him to see. 

"And can we afford that?" he asked, but he already knew. 

"Adelhard can. He won't notice a few bucks go missing."

Adelhard? He'd predicted Sloane. 

"Okay, his account. Also, It's a fancy place in West London and we can't exactly turn up looking like this."

Jyn's Cheshire-cat grin was only growing. "We use Adelhard's cash and get us something nice to wear. As well as a few listening devices and a new camera pen."

"Our cover?"

"Rich young people on a date. Nobody will bat an eyelid."

Bodhi looked skeptical. "You think I can pull off the _rich_ part?"

Jyn rolled her eyes. "Anything can be done with the right amount of money, Bodhi."

"Yes but I'm- I'm clearly foreign. People will stare."

She scoffed. "Unlike some parts we've been to, there is a lot of foreign around here. In case you didn't notice."

Bodhi scratched at the back of his neck uncomfortably, but nodded all the same. He trusted her judgement. He was more concerned with how much _fun_ she seemed to be having with this already. 

Well. He'd never known Jyn to not love living life on the edge. 

The extreme end of the edge, now, if they were going to do this without Saw's stamp of approval.

Well, to hell with it. At least with Jyn working on his case, Krennic stood a real chance of finally meeting his match. 

###### 

Cassian had applied for the position through Chirrut, a respected individual in the hospitality industry of these parts. The interviewer- a middle-aged woman with glaring wrinkles and strict eyes- had taken one long glance at him, a full sweep, and said yes without even asking about the fake credentials he'd shared. Kay was hired after an interview and consideration of the 'past experience' penned by Chirrut.

"I didn't realize you were so handsome," Chirrut had remarked good-naturedly as they left the premises, their new uniforms tucked under the blind man's arm. 

_Handsome_ was the last thing Cassian wanted to feel at the moment, because it was harder to blend in when you were that. Although the uniform was smart enough to make him wonder, at first, if he could really be invisible looking like _this,_ all doubts fled his mind as soon as he noted how crowded the establishment was, and how common and forgettable he looked in relation to the glamorous guests and next to so many similarly-dressed men. 

He'd done this before. Not being a waiter, but wearing different skins. None of this was new to him. It had been a while, but he was almost confident it wouldn't show. 

Being a waiter was the tough part. 

He went in and out of the mass-producing kitchens so many times that he wondered how he hadn't started smelling yet. Some of the dishes he brought to tables were exotic ingredients in pathetic potions- which he preferred to the other kind, massive potions in ridiculous arrangements. It was an expensive place, sit-down dining on three well-lit floors, so there was no reason to hurry as such; but still it seemed he couldn't go back and forth fast enough, couldn't take the orders of these rich socialites efficiently enough. When it was getting closer to seven o'clock, he stopped serving tables and vanished from view before anyone could call him. Met Kay in one of the hidden rooms loaded with tea-trolleys, along the carpeted path leading to the third and most exclusive floor. 

He must've looked quite haggard, because his friend's immediate reaction was to raise an eyebrow judgementally. 

"Did _you_ have to carry two fucking dishes of Lobster Serenade?" Cassian quipped, combing his hair down with his fingers while he shot his companion a glare. 

"I'm not surprised," Kay shrugged. "Do you think the director is going to learn her lesson and not hire people solely based on their looks in the future?"

Cassian scowled. "Aren't you glad we both _got_ the job?"

"I got the job for my past work experience."

"Which was fake."

"Not all of it."

"What? When have you ever-"

"Nevermind." Kay produced one of many listening devices and a tracker. "We have only twenty minutes to plant these. Krennic will be meeting his business associates on the third floor, in the Swiss Lounge."

Cassian resisted the urge to comment _impressive,_ because that would be giving his friend a gloating opportunity at his expense.

"I'll plant them. The CCTVs are a brand that can be monitored through an app," he handed Kay his phone, said app opened. "I got the security key and password on this window. Think you can run a loop?"

Kay looked offended. "What do you mean, _think_ I can run a loop?"

Cassian rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help the slightest of grins slipping through his annoyed mask. 

"Just make sure you don't get me fired."

He slipped out of the room with the casual grace of someone who'd only been inside a minute, bug-sized listening devices in his pocket, before grabbing a tray of menu cards and salt shakers and heading up the stairs. The loop only had to be run in the one lounge in particular, but first he had to get by the few patrons dining on the third floor and the busy waiters there. Cassian had looked up the maintenence schedule; no one would be cleaning either of the two lounges at this time; that task was already done.

The Swiss Lounge had a private entrance blocked from view of the rest of the floor and a single camera inside. He hung back for five minutes, ensuring his partner had ample time to run a loop, then stepped in, planted the bugs in appropriate places (one thing he had total confidence in, after all this time), and got out. He headed back down the private corridor carrying the tray as if he'd come from the fire exit, which he knew the maintenence staff used often. 

The corridor rounded into a common area with a sitting place and the washrooms when a guest walking abnormally fast rammed into him and the tray went flying.

Internally he cursed- wondered if he was about to get caught- but he quickly adopted a worried look and a string of apologies as he bent down to help the woman to her feet. 

Then she looked up and met his eyes and he forgot how to breathe. 

Startling green eyes with fecks of gold. Lips that were clearly cracked despite the layer of pink over them, brown hair tied back in a bun, wait, _familiar_ eyes, familiar lips because they were unmistakable, he'd know them anywhere-

She stood up before he could help, wobbly on a high pair of heels, and was muttering curses as she fixed her dress from where it had ridden up her thighs.

He noticed an all too familiar scar on the back of her left leg as she did. 

"Jyn?"

He hadn't said her name out loud in _years,_ and because it didn't sound right the first time, he repeated it with more clarity, but no small degree of uncertainty. "Jyn?" 

The woman froze, every line of her body going rigid. She turned around, slowly, very slowly, to face him. It didn't register in her eyes. 

"How...how did you..."

He stayed perfectly still where he was, unsure what to do next. 

And then it clicked. He could pinpoint the exact moment it clicked to her, when recognition dawned like a luminous sunrise on her face. 

"Cassian."

Not a question, because she was absolutely sure. But she said the word with awe, like this was some kind of dream, like she was in a trance, and she couldn't believe this was happening. 

The silence felt unfair and oppressive. 

"So," he breathed, not quite sure where he was going in the way of conversation. His throat felt parched. "Wow."

Jyn blinked, still shocked, before a small smile tugged at her lips, and it was the most beautiful thing he had seen in a while. Perhaps ever. 

"Yeah," she agreed. "Wow."

He struggled to the right words, _any_ words that wouldn't make his raging internal conflict obvious. "This is unexpected."

She bit her lower lip, for a second, before that smile returned and she really looked at him. "Weird, huh? But that's...that's coincidence, I guess." She ran a hand through her hair, a little wild now- it could've been wild even before their run-in, if she was the same as back when- and laughed softly. "It's...it's nice to see you again."

"You too," he said lamely, and felt like slapping himself. 

"So, uh," she gestured at his uniform. "You work here?"

What could he say? "Yeah."

"Great. This is..." She laughed, self-deprecating, a little breathless. It made sense, if she was just as surprised. "Good. Unexpected, but good."

He fought the urge to say something stupid like _I've been waiting to see you again for the past nine years._

He managed to crack a good-humoured grin, and hoped it didn't come out like a wince. "So, uh, since we're _here_ I think I should ask...how has your dining experience been?"

_Real smooth, Andor. What the hell was that?_

To his intense relief, Jyn actually laughed, genuinely _laughed._ "I like it. Nothing beats the service, though."

He smiled, hoping to come off as casual. It was impossible to do casual in a situation like this, even Kay would agree with the odds of that. "As part of said service, it's great to hear that. Are you here with...uh, with anyone?"

Jyn replied before he could hate himself for the most absurd one yet.

"Yeah. He...likes the lobster. Didn't expect the dish to be so huge, though." She shook her head. "It's really nice to see you again. I didn't think...you know?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, same here."

Another stretch of silence, but he had the good sense to cut it short with a cough.

"We're both a little busy now, but do you suppose we could catch up? Later, I mean, if that's okay with you."

He wished he could snatch the words back and rephrase them, because she regarded him for a while that felt entirely too long. 

But she smiled, that pretty, fleeting smile again, and agreed, "I like the sound of that. Can I have your number?"

_Joder._ Kay had his phone. 

He told her what his number was and, because he needed a guarantee- because he needed that extra link to her, just in case, asked for hers.

"Aren't you going to...take it down?"

"Not allowed to carry phones while serving," he explained, feeling a little stupid. "But I can remember it."

Jyn laughed. "Impressive."

He absolutely did not feel a stupid stab of pride at a single-word _compliment._

He was repeating the number several times over in his head while this time, a comfortable kind of quiet settled over them. Jyn looked back over her shoulder.

"Look, I need to be getting back to my..." She shrugged apologetically. "Need to get back."

"Walk you there?" he offered before any nerves could kick in. 

She grinned. "Truly a unique service."

He couldn't even think of the mission while he accompanied her as close to her table as wouldn't draw strange looks. She turned around to face him at this point. 

"We'll catch up, Cassian," she said, and it sounded like conviction under a promise. 

He only nodded, unable to find the right words, and watched her return to her table as he backed away from the crowd. 

He hasn't registered it earlier, but she'd hinted she was here on a date. The man who greeted her at the table had brown skin, hair just long enough to tie back, scruff on his cheeks and a fond smile on the moment she started talking to him. Fairly handsome, too, but it didn't seem like he frequented such high-ended places with the nervous way he handled his cutlery and meekly called a waiter when he needed a glass of water. 

He really shouldn't be studying Jyn's date. The guy didn't have any significance in the case at hand, didn't even identify as a potential threat or an essential background player. 

He proceeded down the stairs, back to the room in which Kay was waiting for him, the her number still running in his head. And when his friend asked eloquently why the hell he'd taken so long, he pulled on his headset and listened to nothing else until Krennic and five associates finally made an entrance and took their seats. 

Ordered _three_ Lobster Serenades. He wished, childishly, that he could see the look on their faces when they realized what a grave mistake that was. 

###### 

Bodhi was playing Stickman Parkour on his phone when Jyn's voice startled him into dropping off the edge of a building. 

"Something happened."

"Jyn, I worked really hard for that level! I could've made the leaderboard if I'd done just two more laps!"

He only came down from the high of his favourite time-killing game when Jyn didn't respond to his outburst at once.

He looked across the table to find her huddled protectively in her jacket, scarred knees drawn up on the chair while she stubbornly fought the cold that came with evening sweeping over the open sky above them.

"Something happened," she repeated, saying the words with undue precaution, coming to meet his eyes. "At the restaurant. I...ran into someone, that's why I had to go back later and plant the bug."

Bodhi frowned, setting his phone aside. "Yeah, you told me. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," came Jyn's instinctive response, before she realized _she_ had prompted this conversation.

She took a deep breath and met his concerned gaze brazenly. Just say it. Don't chicken out. This was Bodhi, for fuck's sake. He knew most of her secrets anyway. 

"You remember Cassian?"

Bodhi quirked a brow. "Can't say I do."

She puffed a cloud of cold air. "'Course, you're terrible at names. Well, then, do you remember...in Jedha, when we played with the Alliance kids?"

Bodhi's eyes went unimaginably wide air the mention of Jedha and he almost hissed at her to _don't talk about it, it's dangerous, there are people here,_ but there weren't a lot of others seated at this outdoor cafe and Jyn was using a quieter voice than normal. 

"The...uh, the street kids, you mean. The ones who stayed with the...the A?" It was deadly, talking about it in the open like this, and as bold as Jyn was, as daring as she could be, he did not want their lives to end that way. 

She nodded, a movement so minute he almost missed it. 

"Yeah. I had a friend, I introduced you a couple of times. We used to hang out every evening when it was autumn because the lake was empty at that time."

Bodhi blinked. "Oh. _Oh_. Yeah, I-I remember Cassian." His brow dropped into a small frown. "He's the one you snuck around with, right? I think I remember you getting into deep trouble with Saw once, but you never told me much except that it had to do with you trying to leave camp."

"Well, I didn't _sneak around_ with anyone else, so I'm pretty sure you're on the right track," Jyn rolled her eyes. "And it wasn't sneaking around. We were good friends, Bodhi, like you and I. I just left camp to hang out. Saw wasn't exactly welcoming to outsiders."

"No, I remember it," his lips twitched in a badly-restrained smile. "Wasn't like we were. It was more like, like puppy love."

The glare Jyn treated him to was as terrifying as a shark in its marked territory.

"Why bring this up now?" he asked quickly. 

Jyn's hostile demeanor disappeared altogether, and her shoulders slumped a little as she answered.

"Because he was at the restaurant last night. A waiter. It was probably just...sheer coincidence I ran into him, but I did. Somehow. It's...weird."

"I suppose it is," agreed Bodhi warily. "For him to get from...there to all the way here in London, it's pretty weird. But he's hardly the only person who's moved this far."

Jyn nodded. "Chirrut and Baze."

"The...ah, the A must be keeping close tabs on him, though. Same as the two of them." Bodhi scrunched his nose. "This doesn't change the plan though, right? It's not a risk to have him around?"

"No. Not if he doesn't know what we're doing." Jyn picked up her coffee- untouched, cold now- and took a long sip. "But I do plan on catching up with him. If that's okay."

Bodhi regarded her strangely. She almost squirmed. "What?"

"What exactly was your relationship?"

"Bodhi. Bloody hell." She gulped down more of the drink. "We were friends and I never expected to run into him again, so I just want to catch up. Maybe ask what he's doing so far from home and how he got here. It's not going to impact the mission."

"I'm not worried about the mission," Bodhi leaned forward, an inquisitive look on his face. "For one thing, what does this guy look like now?"

Jyn rolled her eyes at him, again, because he was deserving that a lot today. "Not bad. Stop."

"Define _not bad._ "

She groaned. "Hot as hell. Okay? Not that I care. He used to be nice, and he's still nice, and that's all there is to it."

Bodhi had the audacity to wiggle an eyebrow. "Sure you're not just looking for a good lay?"

She actually bared her teeth. "Fuck off. No."

"So you're serious about this guy."

" _No!_ It's not even _like that!_ " She snatched her cup off the table and aggressively chugged down what was left of it. There. He knew that was a sign he should stop. 

He didn't. 

"Come on. This was like, your first love, and you run into him years later to find out he's really hot...and you _don't_ want to jump him? I find that extremely hard to swallow."

"Swallow this," snapped Jyn, making an obscene gesture, which only caused him to burst into a fit of laughter. 

She wished Bodhi was right, that this was just curiosity or a physical pull that could easily be sated, but there was a lot that he didn't know. 

He didn't know that Cassian was the first person she'd run to when her father had disappeared. Bodhi didn't know that she'd taught him how to fight, and he'd taught her how to swim on those days the lake was so cold nobody with the slightest sense of personal safety would dip so much as a limb in it. He didn't know that the cold faded off when you kicked long and fast enough, and that a simple fire made from plant materials and the stolen lighter in his possession helped them dry off before they both fell sick.

He hadn't seen the hurt on Cassian's face when she'd told him she was leaving Jedha, that she hoped to return soon but very much doubted the possibility.

He didn't know that she had gone on to miss him every day after that, that he _was_ her first love, and leaving him and Jedha behind- especially him- had left a bullet-sized hole in her heart. 

Fuck, she sounded poetic, but there was no way she could really explain this.

###### 

_"Hey!" shouted the tallest of the boys. "Hey, stop! You went off-field!"_

_Jyn looked up from where she'd been about to score a goal. A damn glorious one, too. The old van salvaged from a scrapyard somewhere was just within range of the ball, and the goalie was far too distracted by the hollering children on the other side of the pit._

_She realized too late that there was no way in hell she could've gone off field, but that short space of time the ball was swept from under her feet and rapidly heading in the opposite direction._

_"Teach this one some survival skills, Rook!" one of the boys laughed, elbowed Bodhi harshly in the side as he ran past. Jyn forgot about the stupid ball and the stupid game, sprinting for Bodhi at once._

_But he wasn't injured, and he still cared about the game, so was running after the other team before she could stop him._ _Jyn went after the tall boy with fury written all over her face, forgetting the damn ball and the damn game. It was because she was so angry that she swept it right from under his feet before he could pass it to their scorer, and the moment she realized she'd stolen victory from him- she wanted a real victory, wanted to have something to gloat over, upset his pride with- she went along with the cheers and shouts of her own team._

_She scored once, they scored once, and the last defining kick was from a boy on her raggedy team. They were loud about their victory, but not loud enough to draw unwanted attention. Had their Partisan leaders been present, the match would've been critically assessed for skills they could utilise elsewhere._

_Later, much later, she finally left Bodhi's side after a few words of assurance- that she'd be fine, that she was only meeting a friend, and she would come back to camp by nightfall. She hadn't told him about the head-sized bruise in her side or her badly grazed knees that were oozing blood. She didn't want him to worry._

_It was against Saw's rules to leave camp without permission, and whenever they did leave it was as a group.  
It also felt like breaking the law, at this cold time of evening when everyone was heading home, that she was heading exactly the other way, towards the outer rim of the town and the lake. _

_When it got a notch darker she kicked up on speed, because the thought of spending time with him excited her and she just couldn't get there fast enough._

_She had just successfully snuck by a couple of Partisan soldiers when she nearly ran straight into Saw himself._

_The words were tumbling out of her mouth before she could help it. "I was just...I was...I needed something, I thought it wasn't too late to go out and...and get..." She trailed off, realizing too late that Saw's eyes were fixed on her, and he looked unamused and deaf to her words._

_"Do you know how dangerous this place is?" he asked, his voice a low, disappointed rumble that was...shit, he was angry. She was going to get hell for this._

_The two Partisans whom she'd thought she'd escaped were approaching, then, and resolutely stood behind her, blocking the only direction she could've run in. Not that Jyn was stupid enough to run with Saw at her heels. She could maybe make it, but she wouldn't make it forever._

_Saw looked down at her either hooded eyes that conveyed exasperation, disappointment, like she was a child who never listened to her parents and got into trouble on a regular basis. Heat rose to her cheeks for the let-down look alone. She started to stutter again, started to explain herself, but Saw simply shook his head and she clenched her jaw shut._

_"Who is that boy, Jyn?" His voice low, rumbling. She was stunned into incoherency._

_"I don't know- what boy?" She hoped he took the fire in her eyes for the anger of someone who wasn't guilty and not the brave show that it was. But no show was good enough for Saw. He'd dealt with better liars than her._

_One of the men standing at her heels offered a gruff, emotionless explanation._

_"We followed you yesterday and the day before. Told him what we witnessed."_

 _Jyn's throat was suddenly dry- drier than before-and tears were starting to build up behind her eyes. Angry tears, ready to lash out at them, because they had_ no right. 

_Saw fixed her with a firm hand on her shoulder. "I ordered them to."_

_The words stung even more. She wanted to yell at him, then, but she couldn't, she couldn't find the strength or even the right thing to say, because all she felt was betrayal that they would do this, that they would look into something that was none of their business._

_"My child," he squeezed her shoulder. "Come. I have something to show you."_

_"No," Jyn grit her teeth, fighting hard not to cry. "No!"_

_"Jyn." Saw crouched down to her level, close enough so she could see the dark patches on his face, the tired circles under his eyes. "Come with me."_

_Because she was powerless at the end of the day- because she was going to lose this battle anyway, and because she wasn't about to break down in front of the two men who were obviously enjoying this, she clenched her jaw and marched after him._

_Saw guided her through the streets of Jedha and even further down than she'd ever been, until they walked into a paved square that looked nothing like the rest of the poor town._

_In front of it, a stone building rose just a little bit higher than the squat houses that dominated the landscape._

_"Do you know what Jedha is?" Saw asked, voice grave and serious enough to steal her attention when she hadn't wanted to listen before._

_"Secret town. Refugees. We've been through this." She crossed her arms tightly at her chest._

_"Do you know what it takes to keep such a big secret, Jyn?" Saw's posture stiffened as he watched the building, not her. She took the opportunity to hurriedly wipe at her wet face. "Do you know who runs this town? Who funds it?"_

_She didn't care. She wanted to go find Cassian, apologize for the delay, and tell him all about today's game while they huddled at the edge of the lake, because it was obviously too late for a swim. Or if Cassian had thought she wasn't turning up and left, at the very least she wanted to go back to Bodhi, to cry on his shoulder because he was the only Partisan allowed to see that side of her. Saw had seen it, once, but she wasn't open to any more of that again._

_"Jedha is built on blood and sin," Saw said. "The Alliance works according to the fancies of people in higher places and does their bidding to ensure this town stays safe, that its people survive. But do you know what the Alliance does, Jyn?"_

_"I don't care about the Alliance," she scowled._

_Saw was suddenly at eye level it her, and her heart raced at a frantic pace because try as she might to convince herself she wasn't afraid, she was, and he was terrifying and she respected his authority without question._

_"Then you shouldn't care about the orphans they raise to bring into their fold at the right age," he told her, as plainly and clearly as stating a fact. "Who are conditioned to do their bidding for them. The Alliance spills blood for politicians, Jyn. It may go by a fancy nametag, but at the end of the day they're only enslaving themselves, they're sinning to keep their ship sailing. It is against everything you as a Partisan believe in."_

_Yeah. So the Alliance was horrible, maybe, Saw had mentioned as much before, but Jyn failed to see how the Partisans were any different._

_"Oh, good," she replied instead, feigning boldness as she looked the other way. "I thought you only have a problem with him because he's a boy."_

_A frown settled in the crease between Saw's brows._

_"He is Alliance, Jyn."_

_"He's a boy I happen to like," Jyn snarled, actually facing her guardian this time. "I'm getting older, you think you're going to lose control. That's all this is. Would you prefer I started going at it with someone in the cadre? Would you be alright with that?"_

_She realized the moment the words left her mouth that she'd made a bad, bad mistake. Now he was going to think worse, suspect more, none of which was true and she was only nine years old-_

_But Saw only closed his eyes and ordered quietly, "Go back to camp."_

_"It's not like that." She swallowed. "Really, I swear it's not like that, we don't-"_

_"Go back to camp," he repeated, and she instinctively started backing away. She could not fight him. "We'll talk more later."_

_It was the fastest Jyn had ever run, straight between the two Partisans who were laughing over something now, and it was the longest period of time she'd ever spent curled in her berth next to Bodhi, cursing the world around her and sobbing into his dirty shirt until she had no tears left, and her body could only rock with terrible spasms that eventually lulled her to sleep._

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews are love; part two coming soon!


End file.
